Door for display-cabinets.



J. HOFMAN, H. BUGKLIN & D. E. BURR.

' noon FOR DISPLAY CABINETS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27, 1911',

1,008,266, w Patented Nov. 7, 1911.

Z SHEETSSHEET 1.

' lbfmarv' I JYarrisan in J. HOPMAN, H. BUCKLIN & D. E. BURR. DOOR r011 DISPLAY CABINETS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27, 1911.

1,008,266. Patented Nov. 7, 1911.

2 BHEETSSHEET .21

unrrnn STATE PATENT OFFICE.

Jenn Herman, nannison nncKLIN, Ann DAVID E. none, or nocnns'rnn, new YORK,

AS$IGNOES EG JDHN HQFHAN 00., OF R GCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW sons.

To all whom it may concem:

Be known that we, JOHN HOFMAN, Hannrson BUCKLIN, and Davin E. BURB, each of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Doors for DisplayGabinets; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference beforming a part of the specification, and-to the reference-numerals marked thereon.

Our present invention has for its objectto aprovidean improved means for mounting ldoors or closures for cabinets or wardrobes, {such as those. employed fonthe display of clothing or other articles of merchandise, whereby a minimum. amount of floor space is occupied or required to accommodate the doors during their opening and closing movement. v

A further object of the invention comprehends an arrangement of parts whereby when the door is in the open position it may be moved rearwardly into the case in juxtaposition to one end thereof without materially reducing the area of the interior of the cabinet or restricting the opening at the front of the cabinet.

To these and other ends the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations of parts all as will be hereinafter more fully described, 'the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view of a display cabinet fitted with doors constructed in accordance with our present invention; Fig. 2 is a detail vertical sectional view taken on the line 2"-2" of Fig. 1: Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view taken on the line {B -3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a detail plan view partly in section, showing a modification: and Figs. 5. 6, 7 and 8 are detail views of the door fittings which cooperate with the guides.

Similar reference numerals in the several figures indicate similar parts.

In the construction of display cabinets or wardrobes especially those used by Clothiers inghad to the accompanying drawings,

noon ron msrLAY-ciinmnrs.

Specification of iletters Patent. Patented N 1, 1911 Application filed May 27,

1911. Serial No. 629,881.

by-which the doors are mounted in the cabin'et, sums it isessential that the doors when opened shall not obstruct the aisle or passame time provide a full opening at the front of the cabinet through which the goods may be easily-removed for inspection and subse-- quently replaced in the cabinet. The show cases which are provided with glass side and top walls form an added difiiculty in the way of mounting the doors since the cabinets are constructed in skeleton form and in order to maintain an advantageous display of the goods contained therein, it is desirable to; give the glass panels the greatest possible area. In connection with such a cabinet it is necessary'to provide a means for mounting the door whereby it may be operated with perfect ease and freedom, sothat the necessarily light construction. of the skeleton frame may not be warped or twisted or subjected tostrain during the movement of thedoors either in the act of opening or closing them. I

In'illustrating our present invention we have shown a cabinet comprising the rectangular base 1, which may be of anydesired height, at the top and forward edge of which is the inwardly extending sill 2, and having at the .enifls the sills 3, the intervening portion of the base being preferablycovered by a flooring 4. The corners of-the cabinet are formed by the vertical posts 5'at its forwardedge and the rear posts 6, all of which are connected attheir tops by the front; rear and end rails 7, 8 and 9 respectively. The end walls of the cabinet are closed by the glass plates or panels 10, the back being fitted wit-h a similar pa el 11, while the top may also be made of a heavy glass plate 12.-

In the cabinet illustrated. two doors are shown which, when closed, meet at the center of the cabinet and close the open front thereof, but as a single door may be used and the construction of these doors is similar, a. description of one will suffice for both. The door fits the open side of the cabinet between the sill 2 and the top rail 7, and comprises for the display of garments, one of the most important features resides in the mechanism.

sage way in front of the cabinet, and at the v latter-is closed, as shown in Figs. 1 and In illustrations adapted to show one embodiment of the invention, we provide a means for mounting the door whereby it is so guided within the cabinet, from the time its opening movement commences, when it is rotated out of its normal position in alinement with the sill 2 and the rail 7, that its oening movement increases and when in full men position, it will not be cramped between the top and bottom walls of the cabinet and permitted to exert undue strain upon the lightly constructed parts thereof. The arrangement of the trackplates or guides upon which the door moves is also such that as the door commences to open it will also travel rearwardly into the casing and at no time will its major portion overhang or project beyond the front of the casing.

Fitted 'on the top and bottom faces, respectively, of the end sill 3 and end rail 9 of the cabinet, are bottom and ,top guides 19 and 20, which extend rearwardly from the front of the casing and preferably parallel to the end wall 10 thereof. At the cor- 'ners of the door at the top and bottom are projections 21 and 22 which cooperate with these guides and'serve to cause the rear end of the door to be moved inwardly into the cabinet as the door is opened, will be further described. Similar guides 23 and 24 extend along .the front sill 2 and front top rails 7 to aconvenient point where they curve rearwardly, as indicated at 25 in Fig. 3, and thence extend parallel with and preferably adjacent to the guides 19 and 20, as indicated at 26. The bottom and top rails 13 and 14 of the door are each provided on their inner faces with offset projections 27 and 28, which cooperate respectively with the guides 23 and 24, and during the opening movement of the door form fulcrums around which it is rotated, and as they slide along the guideway permit the door to recede in the cabinet while it is being opened, the curve 25 in this guide permitting a pronounced rearward movement of the door at the time it approaches its 'full open position after which it may be projected still farther into the cabinet, the several projections traveling in their respective parallel guideways. The guideways may be variously constructed, but we prefer to form them of face plate having a channel iron, which may be let into grooves formed in the sills and rails of the case, as shown particularly in Fig. 2, as such bars will materially strengthen these parts and serve to stiffen them without projecting into the. cabinet. The parts cooperating with the guideways, which we have generally termed projections, are preferably spherical steel balls of a diameter to lit the tracks or guideways, those indicated by 21 and 22, at the, corners of the door, being held in retainers 29 illustrated in detail in Figs. 5 and 6, which are fitted in suitable recesses provided in the extremities of the rear rail 15. These retainers preferably comprise a projection thereon provided with a seat forming an annular race way for a series of balls on which the larger ball forming the projection is seated, this arrangement of the parts permitting the door to pivot freely upon the larger balls or projections, while the latter are permitted to rotate as they travel along their guideways. The other projections 27 and 28 are also formed of balls supported upon antifriction bearings formed by grooved rollers 30 journaled in a caster frame 31 having the pin 32 journaled in the bearing plate 33 secured to the inner side of the top and 'bot-- tom rails 13 and lt of the door. The centers of the rollers 30, it will be noticed are so arranged that the center of the journal pin 321s preferably forward of the center of the balls 27 and 28, so that a swinging movement of the caster frames 30 is permitted as the balls 27 and 28 travel around the curved portion 25 of their guideways, the

rails of the door being recessed upon their inner faces slightly to permit slight movement of the parts. The forward projections 27 and28 are preferably arranged at the side of the center of the door nearer the rear},

rail than they are to the parting rail, so that a lever action is provided, during the opening movement of the door which adds to the ease with which the door may be opened, since its rotary movement about the projections 27 and 28 also tends to move the door inwardly. The plate glass with which the door is fitted adds considerably to its Weight and to overcome any tendency which the door may have to bind in the guideway by .reason of its forward edge sagging, an arm or bracket is provided which forms an extended bearing for the upper rear edge of the door, and which is brought into action during the openin movement of the door for 'the purpose 0 relieving the strain on the upper bearing member or rojection 22, and the consequent strain whic this member would naturally transmit to the lightly constructed top end ,mil 9 of the case. This auxiliary bearing particularly n Fig. 2

member, illustrated and during its opening movement the door A tively.

-, fare plates 47.

rotates into alinement with the track, as shown in Fig. 3, when any tendency on the part of the door to tilt on the member 27 1s resisted wholly or in part by the roller 34,

which permits the projection 22 to then act merely as a guiding member for the upper corner of the door, but without becoming cramped in its guideway' A modification of the parts described which is more particularly adapted for small doors, or those which are comparatively light in weight, is illustrated in Fig. 4. In this illustration a portion of the front and end sill of a wardrobe cabinet is shown and indicated by 2 and 3", respec- The view shows a horizontal section, corresponding to Fig. 3, and it will be understood that the cabinet is also provided at the top with the front and end rails. In the arrangement of the parts here illustrated, the guideway 40 in the front sill extends in a. straight line to the corner of the cabinet where it meets the guide'l in the end sill. The door, indicated by 42, is provided at the upper and lower ends of the rear rail with balls or projections 43, and at about the center of its top and bottom rails the balls or projections 4A are also provided.

. The projections 43 and 44 may be constructed in detail as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, or as shown in Figs. 7' and 8, in which latter the balls are. supported loosely upon regressed rollers 45 journaled in boxes 46 on The door -12 arranged with the parts described operates similarly to the door illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, although it "does not recede in the cabinet with the same speed as thedoor mounted as previously des"cribed, since it is necessary inopening the "door. to swing it laterally until the projecf fions' it have traversed the full length of the guides -10 and are in alinement with the guides i1, when the door may be projected 'rearwardly until it has reached the limit of its rearward movement in the cabinet.

Doors for cabinets mounted in the manner described operate freely without binding or cramping and as they are supported both attiie top and bottom the rails may be made narrow in width thus providing a large opening for the glass plate, and affording an unrestricted view of the contents of the cabinet from a point in front of the latter. The mounting of the door in the manner comprehended in this invention, whereby the use of a hinge connection either between the door and the cabinet case or between the door and a movable carriage sliding within the case, permits the latter to be made lighter in construct-ion throughout as strain causedby the weight of a hinged door is entirely obviated. This lessening of the size of the parts also permits greater area to be iven to the glass panels at the ends, back (m5: top of the cabinet. A further advantage is found in mounting the door so that it begins to recede with the commencement of its opening movement, as in this way about one-half of the door is projected within the cabinet when it has been opened the full distance. This feature particularly adapts this door for use upon display cabinets which are necessarily located inplaces which are apt to be more or less crowded.

We claim as our invention:

1. The combination with a cabinet havingan open front and provided with walls .at the top and bottom thereof, of a door closing said opening, cooperating guides and projections in the cabinet and on the door per-' bottom walls of the cabinet and projections.

attached to the door and cooperating with" the guides and a bearing arm hinged to the door and extending into the cabinet and having its inner end cooperating with the guide on said top wall.

3. The combination with a cabinet havin an open front and comprising bottom and top walls and a door fitting said opening, of means for mounting the door in the cabinet comprising guides fixed to the top and bottom walls of the cabinet and project-ions attached to the door and coiiperating with the guides, said guides and projections being so disposed that during the opening movement of the door it is caused to slide laterally and recede into the cabinet, an arm attached to the door having an end traveling in one of the guides and forming a bearing spaced from the door.

4. The combination with a display cabinet open at its front side and having bot-tom and top walls, guides on the latter extending rearwardly into the cabinet and separate guides at the top and bottom of the cabinet each having a part extending along the frontof the cabinet and provided with a short rearwardly curved portion terminating in ice an extremity lying in juxtaposition to the the cabinet to prevent the door from'bindcorresponding first mentioned guide, of a ing in the cabinet.

door, projectlons at its top and bottom cor JOHN HOFMAN'. 11ers engaging the first mentioned guides, v HARRISON BUCKLIN. casters offset from the inner face of the door DAVID E. BURR. cooperating with the second set of guides Witnesses:

and an arm extending inwardly from the CHAS. F. HOFMAN,

door and cooperating with the interior of G. WILLARD R1011. 

